Mashed Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic & Chives

A couple years ago, I blogged about a Cauliflower Purée with Mushroom Compote, Seared King Mushroom and Shitake Bacon dish. That meal was awesome but time-consuming. Today, the big head of cauliflower sitting in my fridge inspired me to make a simple vegan mashed cauliflower side dish.

Vegan Mashed Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic and Chives

I decided to load this up with roasted garlic, chives, and nutritional yeast. I used vegan margarine, but a drizzle of olive oil would be really tasty too.

Vegan Mashed Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic and Chives

The result is a wonderfully light and flavorful side dish that you wouldn’t feel too bad about if you ended-up eating a whole bowl full. Who me? Never…

Vegan Mashed Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic and Chives
Roasted Garlic

Roasting Garlic Cloves

  1. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
  2. Cut off the end of the garlic cloves to expose the flesh. Place them on a piece of foil, drizzle them with olive oil and season them with salt and pepper.
  3. Wrap the cloves up with the foil and place them on baking pan. Bake them for 1 hour. The cloves should be soft and fragrant.
  4. Once cooled, pop the cloves from their skins, and mash them up before incorporating them into your dish.
Cauliflower
Cauliflower
Vegan Mashed Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic and Chives
Vegan Mashed Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic and Chives

Recipe Notes – Vegan Mashed Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic & Chives

  • I like to include a couple cloves of roasted garlic in this mashed cauliflower, but if you don’t have the time, feel free to substitute a fresh clove of garlic, or garlic powder.
  • Purée the boiled cauliflower with an immersion blender or potato masher.
Vegan Mashed Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic and Chives
Vegan Mashed Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic and Chives

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Vegan Mashed Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic & Chives

This vegan cauliflower mash / cauliflower puree with roasted garlic, chives, and nutritional yeast is so healthy, they won’t feel guilty asking for seconds! Vegan / Gluten-Free

  • Author: Angela @ Vegangela.com
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 10 mins
  • Total Time: 20 mins
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Side
  • Cuisine: Vegan

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 large cauliflower, chopped into florets
  • 2 big cloves of roasted garlic (see recipe above) (or 1 clove raw garlic)
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 2 tbsp vegan margarine
  • 1 tbsp fresh chives, chopped
  • salt & pepper

Instructions

  1. Chop the head of cauliflower into small florets.
  2. Place cauliflower in a large pot and fill with just enough water to cover the florets.
  3. Bring the water to boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low. Steam until tender, about 6 minutes.
  4. Drain the cauliflower well.
  5. Place the cauliflower in a large bowl, and puree with potato masher or immersion (stick) blender.
  6. Mix in remaining ingredients, seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste.

Keywords: cauliflower, chive, easy, food processor, gluten-free, holiday & special occasion, kid-friendly, low-carb, mash, nut-free, nutritional yeast, oven, soy-free, stove top, vegan

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Vegan Mashed Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic and Chives

58 thoughts on “Mashed Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic & Chives”

  1. Made this tonight but used fresh dill instead because that’s what I had on hand. My boyfriend isn’t a cauliflower fan & commented “wow, this is great- reminds me of mashed potatoes!” Uh, yeah that’s the point! 😉

    Reply
  2. HI,

    The flavor of this recipe was fantastic but since I used a food processor it was more like a puree. Do I need to mash it in order to keep it a little firm?

    Thanks!

    Reply
  3. This was really good I made a batch of it for when I work. The only change I made was I added some almond milk to it, not very much only about 2 tbsp to make it smooth. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
  4. I followed this exactly and it was outstanding! Loved it! Thanks for the recipe. Everything I’ve made from your site has been delicious.

    Reply
  5. I am giving this recipe 5 stars, but I have to admit that it didn’t start out that way. I happen to LOVE sinfully delicious mashed potatoes. I also LOVE cauliflower, so I thought this would be a marriage made in heaven.

    I followed the recipe to the letter, but when I took my first bite- I felt like I had been betrayed. The texture is nothing like mashed potatoes. I wanted to cry and toss the whole thing out. A few minutes later, I had the delicious hint of roasted garlic in my mouth. I went back for a few more bites…. a few bites turned into me eating the whole pan.

    I will definitely make this again and again. If you are a first timer, please note that these are missing the starchy quality of potatoes. If you can get past that, these are quite tasty. Thank you for the recipe.

    Reply
    • Hi Tricia, that’s great feedback and sorry if I misled you. I guess nothing can really replace potatoes, but considering how healthy this is in comparison, I think it’s a good compromise. Thanks for taking a chance on the recipe, and encouraging others to as well. All the best 🙂

      Reply
  6. I’ve made this recipe before and I thought it was FABULOUS. Seriously, I think it only lasted me three servings 🙂

    However, cauliflower is a little expensive in my area (for a poor college student). Could I make this recipe with frozen cauliflower? I know it probably won’t be quite as good as fresh, but I figure it might be worth a try. Could I just microwave the frozen cauliflower, or would I still steam/boil it on the stove? I’m pretty new at cooking 🙂

    Reply
  7. Can’t wait to try this! But, I’m a bit confused about cooking the cauliflower. You the water should cover the florets but then you say to steam until tender. Does it matter if they’re steamed or boiled as long as they’re soft? I always assume you lose fewer nutrients with steaming.

    Reply
  8. I was wondering if you could give me ideas about what to serve these with? I like to do sort of traditional “meat and potatoes” meals that have no meat! I don’t know if that sounds weird but… I do have a hard time thinking of things to serve that aren’t just variations on baked tofu.

    Reply
    • Hi Libby – I do tend to serve this with a side of baked tofu, but you could do seitan or tempeh on the side too. You could also coat your tofu in BBQ sauce or “shake and bake” type toppings. I’ll try to get more of those types of recipes up in the new year 🙂

      Reply
  9. Your picture of the roasted garlic looks like it has olive oil on the foil. But the “recipe” does not refer to oil (though it does say to drizzle salt and pepper). Was wondering whether you roast it with salt, pepper and drizzled olive oil.

    Reply
  10. I’m anxious to give some of these a try. After watching Forks over Knives we made the switch about two months ago… Always on the lookout for making this new way of eating more enjoyable. Thanks for taking the time to provide this info…

    Reply
  11. You use vegan margarine in your recipes which I’m not allowed to eat, can you substitute with olive oil or something in savoury dishes?

    Reply
  12. Out of all the recipes out there, I chose yours solely based on the amazing pictures. It was scrumptious!

    Reply
  13. Tried it tonight. Turned out great!

    The kids were a little sceared, but they cleaned their plates 🙂

    Just found your sire today, will definitely try some more recipes

    Philip

    Reply
  14. Oh my god, these are heavenly. Thank you for posting! These are perfect for comfort food when you’re vegan and trying to cut carbs/fat out for sports. I made them without the margarine and they still are amazing…will quickly become a staple in my house. Thanks again!

    Reply
  15. Hi there. Your recipes sound fantastic! Im going to try this cauli mash. Just wondering what is the reason for the addition of nutritional yeast? What does it taste like? Is there a generic name for it?
    Helen.

    Reply
  16. A divine & tasty recipe! I made this yesterday for the very 1st time & loved every bite of it!

    I ate it with baked tofu & my husband ate this with an organic pork chop: so good, so tasty too! 🙂

    I am not a vegan but do cook, bake & eat vegan 5x/week. I also blog about it! Check me out! x

    Reply
  17. That looks awesome! I tried mashed cauli tonight for the first time and unfortunately it bombed pretty hard. I roasted them but don’t think they were in there long enough. They were still pretty firm. Do you find you need to get them pretty soft in order to get the mashed potato consistency?

    Reply
      • Well I didn’t use your exact recipe no. I roasted the cauliflower in the oven to brown them and give extra flavor then tossed them into the food processor with some of the broth from the moroccan chicken to moisten it up. The flavors going into the mash were solid but the consistency was gross 🙂

        Reply
  18. This recipe sounds absolutely wonderful and delicious! I’m going to try it as soon as I pick up some nutritional yeast. I’m always looking for comfort foods that are vegan, so I don’t jump into all the heavy carbs. Thanks for this.

    Reply

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